starting a project this coming week. have a few questions. the truck is a 2004 ranger 2wd with 2.3l. heres the list of new parts

front brakes: bearings, rotors, calipers and brakets, pads, brake hoses
rear brakes : gt mustang swap; calipers, brakets, dustshields, hoses, rotors
rear end: 8.8 swap from b3000, ford traction lok, 3.73 gears, moser axle girdle, brake lines and sensor, seals, custom made axle truse, welded axle tubes
suspension: djm 4/5 kit from summit (shocks, flip kit, coils, control arms with bjoints)
driveline: ujoints

all new parts. hopefully will have pics when done.

now for the questions:
will i need to get shims for the differential to set pinion angle?
do i need to notch the frame in the rear. i have heard yes and no?
do i need to get a camber bolt set.? it looks like i have adjustable bolts from the factory.

thanks for any help with the questions. wish me luck

I just have a question. If you are going to swap out your factory rear axle for a 8.8" with traction lock, with 3.73 gears, then swap out the drum brakes for disk brakes, then on top of that buy a flip kit, why not just purchase the rear axle from a V8 ford explorer?

They already have the spring pirches on the bottom of the axle instead of the top giving you a 5" axle flip for free, they come with traction lock from the factory, and already have rear disk brakes, plus on top of that it 8.8" axle, and you can pick them up for about $150.

I know that if you picked up one of these and just bought the springs and control arms from DJM it'll cost a lot less than your original plan and give you the same exact set up you were going for in the first place.

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2001 XL 2.5l 5 speed, 19lb injectors, 94 Cougar Resonator for muffler, Spectre DIY intake kit, Royal Purple in engine & rearend, Full Synthetic DEX/MERC IV with Lucas fluid in trans, painted rear half of frame, 3/3" drop, Bronco II rear sway bar, blacked out interior panels, pioneer speakers and head unit.

two reasons for the non expo swap. first if i ever needed to go back to stock suspension i can since the spring perches would be in the correct spot and second i would have to reweld the shock perches. i just got the welder last xmas and havnt welded in years so with that said i wasnt too confident with my welding skills for something that is goin to see loads like the shock and spring perches. i made the axle truss and welded the tubes and used that as my welding experience. after all the time i spent on this rear , now it would have been easier to swap and expo rear , but i needed this as a learning experience. plus, this truck really never goes offroad and i dont need the extra support of the 31spline axles and beafy tubes. i may go 5.0 one day but this axle setup is the same size as the mustangs and with the weight of the truck close to that of a mustang it should still be plenty of strength to handle it. also when i first started this project i was just planning on going from a 9in drum to 10in drum. then i found out that the one drum, backing plate and axle were bent (like it was dropped from a truck on its side) at that point is when i noticed that you could use a mustang setup to convert to disc. everything just snowballed from there. cant wait till this thing is done. been wanted to do this for years

Well I can understand the ease of swapping back to stock. But you don't need to weld any new spring perches, just get two passenger side shock perches from under the explorer leaf springs. They just bolt right up.

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2001 XL 2.5l 5 speed, 19lb injectors, 94 Cougar Resonator for muffler, Spectre DIY intake kit, Royal Purple in engine & rearend, Full Synthetic DEX/MERC IV with Lucas fluid in trans, painted rear half of frame, 3/3" drop, Bronco II rear sway bar, blacked out interior panels, pioneer speakers and head unit.

now u tell me.

oh well. live and learn i guess. just ordered the suspension this morning and new poly bushings for the leafsprings and shackles. the only ones i could find were for a 97 ranger. they should still work from what i was told. if anyone knows if they dont please tell me. hopefully will have some pics in the next 5-10 days

Sorry I couldn't let you know in time. Could've helped you save a lot of money.

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2001 XL 2.5l 5 speed, 19lb injectors, 94 Cougar Resonator for muffler, Spectre DIY intake kit, Royal Purple in engine & rearend, Full Synthetic DEX/MERC IV with Lucas fluid in trans, painted rear half of frame, 3/3" drop, Bronco II rear sway bar, blacked out interior panels, pioneer speakers and head unit.